6 ways to level up your Shorts with our newest creation tools
Weâre introducing new creative tools to take your Shorts to the next level and inspire you to make your next Short.
Aug 01, 2023 [[read-time]] minute read
We introduced Shorts to give creators a lightweight and fun way to create and share short-form videos on YouTube, and continue to expand on the ways that creators can easily tap into their creativity. From remixing tools that help creators leverage content from across YouTubeâs billions of videos worldwide in new, original content, to expanding the YouTube Partner Program so creators can join and earn money from their Shorts, we want to make it easier for anyone to join in and create what they love.
YouTube Shorts are now being watched by over 2B logged-in users every month, and today weâre introducing new ways to spark imagination and creativity. Check out these 6 new ways to create on Shorts:
1. A new way to remix with Collab
Collab is a new creation tool that lets you record a Short in a side-by-side format with other YouTube or Shorts videos. Creators can choose from multiple layout options to easily join in with a split screen format. Just hit âRemixâ then âCollabâ to remix an eligible Short or YouTube video.
Collab joins Green Screen, which uses a YouTube video or Short as the background of our original Short, and Cut, which lets you use a 1-5 second segment from a YouTube video or Short in your own Short, as yet another way to remix Shorts content.
Starting today and in the coming weeks, weâll roll out Collab to all creators on iOS, with Android to follow.
2. Experiment with new effects and stickers
Over the past few months, weâve added dozens of new Shorts effects and stickers to help inspire creators in new ways.
And weâre always adding more â for instance, weâll soon start rolling out a new Q&A sticker, so you can ask your audience questions and get responses right in your comments. So next time youâre asking yourself, âWhat places do I need to visit in Japan?â our Q&A sticker has you covered.
Plus, with the ability to reply to comments with a Short, you can easily shout out whoever gave you the inspiration to create.
3. Go live and get discovered on Shorts
Weâre excited to share that weâre now testing a mobile-first vertical live experience, so live creators can get discovered right in the Shorts feed!
Viewers in the test will see previews of vertical live videos mixed into the Shorts feed. As someone taps into the experience, theyâll be placed in a scrollable feed of other live videos.
We hope that this helps creators connect live with a new audience and build their communities in a modern and fun way, from wherever they are in the world. Creators can go live in just a few taps - just make sure itâs vertical orientation! - and features like Super Chat, Super Stickers, and channel memberships will be available, too.
This is also a great opportunity for creators who recently joined our YouTube Partner Program with the new, lower eligibility requirements to unlock these fan funding features.
While nothing is changing to how creators go live today, weâre introducing this new, full-screen experience to viewers gradually, over the coming months. That means that live creators will now have the opportunity to get discovered in more places!
4. Streamline your creation with suggestions
What better way to get inspired than by other Shorts creators? Weâre making it easier to create on YouTube with Shorts whenever inspiration strikes on your feed with a new feature that bundles the audio and effect from the Short youâre remixing from automatically.
From the Shorts player, tap the Remix button and select âuse sound.â Weâll automatically surface the same audio time stamp from the Short you just watched, and the same effect as a creation suggestion. You can always mix and match to make it your own, too!
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5. Save Shorts to playlists to find inspiration
We recently introduced the option to save Shorts to playlists right on YouTube, so anybody can curate Shorts they love to a playlist directly from the Shorts feed. Creators, if you donât want to lose the effect you just discovered, pop it into a playlist so you can pull it up and try it yourself when inspiration strikes next!
To see Shorts playlists in action, check out this curated playlist from JVKE.
6. An easier way to transform your videos to Shorts
In the next few weeks, weâll start to test new recomposition tools that will help you more easily transform your horizontal videos into Shorts!
Once you choose a video to remix, youâll be able to adjust the layout, zoom, and crop of the video segment. Split screen effects will also be available, so you can preserve key parts of your long-form content to create more engaging, original Shorts.
Weâll share more in the coming weeks as we roll these new tools out.
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Thereâs so much more to come with Shorts, so stay tuned as we introduce more features in the future! We canât wait to see what you do with them.